


Shapechange

by verdigrisVagabond



Series: The World is Larger Than We Humans Can Know [2]
Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 23:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1876533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verdigrisVagabond/pseuds/verdigrisVagabond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a hellish day at then end of a terrible week, Darryl looks to his friend S'reee for support, and gets a great surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shapechange

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wizardslexicon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wizardslexicon/gifts).



> Takes place somewhere between Wizards at War and Wizard of Mars, but is spoiler-free. 
> 
> As I am not Diane Duane, I do not own these characters. I just write about them sometimes while waiting for the next book.

On a certain Friday afternoon, at about three ten, a loud crack echoed across a certain jetty just North of Tiana Beach as a young wizard wearing a red t-shirt and an incredibly stressed expression popped into existence. He rubbed his ears and frowned, looking around for any bystanders. As there were none, he stripped off his clothes, stuffed them in his backpack, and then shoved the whole thing between two rocks and dove into the water. It was only a matter of time before S’reee would show up to meet him: he had sent her a message in the middle of his last-period history class, about a half hour ago, when he had been all but useless.

Darryl dove deep into the water and sighed. It had already been the worst week ever when, on top of everything else, his filters for the world just fell away. Lights were too bright, even and even a whisper was too loud. He'd picked his t-shirt and jeans for their broken-in comfort, but he'd become inescapably aware of the feel of the fabric on his skin, and it hurt. It started just after lunch and kept building, and Darryl would have cut school and gone home except that he already had far too many absences and, unfortunately, middle school was less accommodating of his autism than elementary school had been. He was able to put up some filters with wizardry that bought him some time, but in the end the energy drain was too much to keep up. The overload got worse and worse, fueled by the energy drain, and eventually he had to make himself tough it out without them. When the day ended, he had just enough energy left to transit out to the beach, but that was it.

He was floating face-up in the water with his eyes closed when he heard S’reee try and greet him as she approached. _Not yet._ He sent out in the Speech, his brain aching with every syllable. _Too much. Hurts._ He floated for a while longer, and then flipped over, beginning to swim laps between the jetty and S’reee, who was floating a respectful distance away, far enough down as to not disturb his stimming.

He swam back and forth, focusing on the rhythm of his arms and legs, and how smooth and cool the water felt on his skin. It was so much better underwater, so much quieter. He let his arms drop to his sides and began dolphin kicking through the water, using his hands only to steer. The currents soothed his tired nerves, and eventually, sensation began to feel tolerable again.

He dove down towards S’reee, who had moved to snack on a passing school of krill. _Dai, Cousin,_ he said.

 _Dai!_ She replied. _Are you okay?_

_It was a long, awful day at the end of a long, awful week. The sensory overload was just the icing on the cake._

_I’m sorry._ S’reee whistled sympathetically, floating up under Darryl to buoy him to the surface. _Would talking it out make you feel better?_

Darryl sighed. _Not at the moment. I don’t have enough energy._

 _Okay._ S’reee let him rest for a minute. _How about a surprise?_

_What kind of surprise?_

S’reee made a noise that could have easily passed for a fangirl seeing her favorite actor at a convention. _Do you remember how you were saying that maybe sometime you might want to try taking whaleshape?_

_…Yes_

_Okay!_ She whistled happily, dumping Darryl off her back and into the water next to her. _I’ve been working on a spell. You can’t do the whaleshape seeming without us sharing blood, and I figured a whalesark might not feel very good on your brain, so I started from a mochteroof template and a permanent transformation spell and made a hybrid that used some inspiration from a whalesark. Would you like to try it?_

Darryl stared at S’reee for a moment, trying to decide if he had the energy to spare, but she looked so excited that he couldn’t make himself say no. _All right,_ he said. _Let’s do this._

S’reee passed the spell from her manual to his, as much as she could, given that her manual was the Sea and his was the Silence, and Darryl looked it over. _This looks… amazing! Cousin, how long did this take you? It’s gorgeous!_

_A while. Try it out!_

Darryl started reciting it, and the world went sideways as his control was yanked from him, the spell reading him, as they often did. When he came back, his body was much sleeker and more streamlined, his eyes had shifted, and his face was an entirely different shape. He blinked a few times. He couldn’t feel his nose properly.

 _How does it feel, Cousin?_ S’reee asked. She said it out loud, through the water, rather than mind-to-mind.

Darryl grinned, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth. _I hear you properly!_ He said _I hear you so much better! Your voice is beautiful, S’reee._ As he spoke to her, he could hear the echoes bouncing back to him, telling him where the jetty was, where she was, where buoys and plants and prey were. It was amazing! He’d never been able to see quite like this. Hear quite like this.

S’reee made a long, giggly whistle. _You’re a long-finned pilot whale! Fast, sleek, chipper, carnivorous. I thought it would suit your personality._

He laughed. _Carnivorous?_

 _Wasn’t my primary reason!_ She bumped him playfully. _Is it working for you? Is the sensory input okay? I was really worried about that bit._

 _It's working beautifully. And it feels great. You didn't need to worry at all!_ The water on his skin felt smooth an entirely different way than it had before. It wasn’t calming, like it had been earlier. It was almost… electric? No, that wasn’t quite right. But it was very, very good. He swam a few yards experimentally, just to see what it was like, and was not disappointed in the slightest. Moving through water was so much better than air on a normal day, but this was stimming on an entirely different level. He was so very aware of the pressure and the texture around him, and it was a good thing. For the first time that week, no less. He swam faster, doing circles around S’reee, who was giggling helplessly in whistles and gasps.

 _I’m so fast! I’msofastI’msofastI’msofast! Roundroundroundround… whoa._ He stopped and tried to stabilize himself with his fins.

_You okay cousin?_

_Yeah, I just made myself dizzy._ He sat in the water, humming happily for a moment, before letting out an excited whistle. Jetting past S’reee, he made a huge loop around her, coming back to pass in front of her. _DO A BARREL ROLL!_ he shouted, as he proceeded to do exactly that. S’reee laughed so hard she had to surface to catch her breath, and Darryl followed, leaping out of the water and trying to do flips as if he were a show dolphin. He failed, leaving S’reee helpless again.

Darryl swam over and playfully knocked into her side. _Quit laughing at me!_ He pouted, albeit giggling himself.

 _I can’t help it!_ she replied. _You trying out a new shape is adorable, and you trying to get the hang of whaleshape is even more adorable. Cousin, YOU are adorable._

_Excuse you, I am a formidable, carnivorous, long-finned pilot whale!_

_…You’re also still tiny._

_Shut up._

They both laughed, watching the sun start to set over the water.

 _I should prolly head back,_ Darryl sighed. _I was supposed to be home a few hours ago._

S’reee whistled grouchily. _H’niit and K!t had the same problem. You should go, I don’t want you getting in trouble._

Darryl dipped below the water and somewhat regretfully undid the shapechange spell. Being human wasn’t terrible by a long shot, especially now that his sensory overload was gone, but it wasn’t nearly as fun.

 _You can come out here and stim or play in whaleshape any time you like, dHarrll. Or not in whaleshape,_ S’reee said, mind-to-mind again, as she towed him to shore. _It looked like it made you happy. And I like it better when you’re happy then when you’re under attack._

Darryl kissed her side before climbing onto the jetty. _Thanks, S’reee. I’d love to._ He pulled out his backpack and used his t-shirt to dry himself off before dressing. As he turned to leave, he shouted over the water, in the Speech, “Hey! S’reee! I’m gonna try to tweak that spell so that you can try taking a humanshape! Let’s see how you like WALKING!”

S’reee whistled her longest laugh yet, before doing a flawless barrel roll, and diving into the waves.

Darryl went home, a smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my gosh oh my gosh. A huge, huge thank you to Geekhyena for inspiration and beta-ing and helping me get this thing finished. She is a goddess and amazingly helpful. This took way longer than I would have liked and is not nearly as long as I would have liked but life bit me in the ass and... yeah. Also thank you to devieklutz and starzeph for all the encouragement. Without you, This would prolly not exist. I love you both.
> 
> Finally, thank you to lackadasicallexicon for letting me get away with not using your original prompt and letting me go with something I was a bit more comfortable with, especially since I forgot to put some parameters in my offer (like no NMEs). Also, again, life bit me in the ass, and I knew I couldn't do your original prompt justice. Not with everything else going on. (However, know that your original prompt was amazing and I am saving it for sometime when I feel I can actaully write Tuyet and Nguyet well.) Much love to you, cousin. I hope you enjoyed your darrylfic.


End file.
